Mexican police officer burned to death on Juarez street

Story highlights

The Juarez police officer was kidnapped Monday night, prosecutors say

He was set on fire Tuesday morning in the middle of a street

He is the 33rd city police officer killed this year

A municipal police officer in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, was burned alive by unknown attackers in broad daylight in front of several witnesses who said they saw the officer writhing as he died, officials said Tuesday.

The homicide marked the 33rd municipal police officer killed in Juarez this year and the 59th in the past 15 months, according to the Chihuahua state attorney general's office.

Agent Jose Everardo was kidnapped Monday night by a group of strangers, according to prosecutors. Witnesses said the officer was dumped from a vehicle around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday and sprayed with a flammable liquid that was then ignited.

A local journalist, who did not want to be identified for security reasons, told CNN he was warned not to arrive at the scene "very quickly" because the attackers were seen lingering there. In the past, aggressive journalists who arrived at crime scenes moments after an attack have faced retribution from attackers.

"The body was upside down, burned completely," the press office of the prosecutor of Chihuahua told the media.

An image taken from the scene shows a charred body face down in the middle of a Juarez street. The officer appears to still be wearing his police uniform.

A note for police was left at the crime scene, prosecutors said, but the contents of the note have not been disclosed.